Chapter 12: Chapter 12

Colter

Pruneé, Kingdom of Howard

"You could use a little company."

Colter looked up from his fourth or was it sixth bottle of Pruneé's best booze. He had been sitting at this table for quite sometime now and ever since then, the crowd had considerably thinned and the noise died down into a quiet buzz.

He had no idea what time it was but he could tell that the bar was about to close. Tables were being cleaned and there were only a few customers left. Maybe he could ask the owner if he could stay a while longer.

"Nah, thanks. I'm good." Colter replied as he took another shot.

The woman did not give up easily. She immediately recognized Colter as soon as he walked into the bar. Only a royal could have gait like that. And that hood? It only drew more attention to himself. She slid into the seat in front of the Prince and caressed his leg under the table with her own. "You look like you needed someone to talk to. I've been eyeing you for quite some time now."

Colter snorted rather disgustingly that his mother would be scandalized by his social blunder. This woman was obviously seducing Colter. "Trust me, lady. You wouldn't wanna hear the problems of this guy." he pointed to himself.

"Then maybe I can take your problems away?" she whispered, her hand touched his upper leg and she began to gently rub it, matching the hypnotizing motion of her leg.

Of course, Colter is still a noble prince above and before else. Even though it was becoming quite tight down there. His mother did not raise him to take advantage of situations such as these.

He did not want to be harsh or rude, so he carefully moved his leg away and placed her hand at a safe distance. "Listen here, lady. I 'preciate your interest and all those other mushy things, but I'm not looking for a good time. I'd rather be 'lone for now."

"I see," the woman trailed off and left the table rather abruptly, obviously embarrassed and hurt for being turned down by the prince.

"Thanks for the offer though!" Colter yelled at her retreating form.

Once he was alone again, he drank the last drop of vodka from the bottle. Colter found it funny how the waitress had warned him of the effects of Pruneé's specialty.

"This brew is very potent, Your Highness. Only the finest grains are used to make this drink and are distilled ten times to ensure a high quality product."

But Colter had already consumed half the case of the drink and he still did not feel inebriated. He felt that the waitress had scammed him into ordering more since this was the most expensive drink on the menu. Some specialty it is.

"Excuse me, Your Highness," One of the baristas from the bar counter said as he cleared up the table. " But I suggest that this be your last bottle for tonight."

"Great! You're here. Come fetch me 'nother bottle of this." Colter said while shaking the bottle he was holding.

"Your Highness, you've already drank too much. I suggest that you should rest now. The King will be upon us if we let you consume another drink."

Colter laughed bitterly. He could not believe that this man was showing more concern than his father. "You know, my friend. It's not news anymore. The great King Malik, my father, is and always will be mad at me. No matter what I do, he'll always see me as a failure and a disgrace to the family."

"You don't mean that, Your Highness." the barista said. His heart went out to the prince. He seemed like a nice man. He was not the kind of royalty who thinks he's better than everyone else. Actually, he was even surprised to know that the prince had walked in earlier. He learned from the server that tended his table that the youngest monarch was in the house and requested that his identity be kept under wraps.

"Oh, I mean it, pal. Believe me when I say that the King wishes for me to not have been born. He doesn't say it to my face, but he sure does a great job in letting me feel it every fucking chance he gets." Colter stood up, slightly wobbling on his feet. He grasped the table for support. The barista leaned in to help but he waved him away. "Well, best be off then. Thank you for being a gracious host."

The barista watched Prince Colter staggering away. "Our good prince, I hope you feel better in the morning." He feared that after six bottles of vodka, he wouldn't be able to walk up to the Palace.

He then turned to clean the table and gathered the bottles. He just wondered how he would explain to the manager tomorrow the scorch marks on the table and the unpaid bill of a brokenhearted royal.

---

By some sort of fucked up divine miracle, Colter made it back to the palace in one piece. But of course, his trip back was mainly him tripping on his own feet and trying to figure out if the world has had a mind of its own and is now turning upside down.

Well, shit. The waitress was right: Pruneé's specialty was indeed potent.

There were no attendants to welcome him home this time. He made sure that he did not alert the guards on duty and that was another feat he accomplished tonight. As he entered the foyer, he scrambled to gain his footing. He grabbed onto one of the stone pillars and leaned in for support.

"Colter? Is that you, my boy?"

Queen Regina descended on the grand staircase. Colter made an effort to stand up straight even in his intoxicated state. "Hi, mother."

"Where have you been? I've been waiting for you to come home." Queen Regine said as she approached Colter. She immediately smelled the strong alcohol on his son. No wonder Colter was out for so long. He usually spends his time in his room when he comes back from exploring the woods.

Colter scratched the back of his neck and avoided the Queen's eyes. "I've been outside, mum."

The Queen touched his face and forced his son to look at her. "What is wrong, my love? Have you been drinking?"

He blinked slowly, trying to process his mother's question. Why did he drink again?

"Colter?"

He didn't realize that he was just staring at the Queen with a blank face. "I'm sorry. I'm just tired. I'm not drunk, mother. I'm okay. You don't have to worry about me."

"I heard about what happened this afternoon." Queen Regina said quietly. "Please, Colter. I'm here. You can talk to me."

Colter knew that the Queen meant well. After all, she's much more lenient and far more a better parent than the King. But Colter could not have the heart to break the Queen's resolute loyalty. He did not know what would happen if ever the Queen started disobeying the orders of the King and he did not want to see it happen.

"I promise I'll be fine, mother. There is nothing a good night's sleep can't fix." Colter smiled sadly. Queen Regina was the most precious thing to Colter. She was the reason why he still puts up with the King. He could not bear to see her worried about something she could not fix.

"What is the meaning of this?"

The Queen and Colter looked up at the source of the voice at the top of the stairs. It was the King, in his nightly robe. It would have been a hilarious scene in a different circumstance, but Colter doubted that the King was in the mood for jokes.

"Nothing is amiss, Your Highness." Colter said loudly. "You should head off to bed now."

King Malik narrowed his eyes at his son. "Don't you dare fool me. I was once a young man and I would know if someone was drunk as a skunk." He walked down the stairs, his face laden with disdain. "Cut the nonsense, Colter. You do not seem to care at all about our family's reputation. Drinking like some mad pirate at an ungodly hour, nonetheless. You really can't do anything right, can you?"

Colter just gave his father a smile. "Why father, don't you think that I have the right to do whatever I want? Since I have nothing of use to you, why don't I just spend my days fulfilling what I want?"

"Why you!" King Malik lunged at Colter. The King could not believe the spunk this boy had. He could barely control his anger as he grabbed Colter by the collar.

It did not faze Colter the slightest bit. He was so drunk that he was just ready to take the hit from his father. The King was breathing heavily as Colter met his gaze with an expressionless face. The two of them stared down at each other, waiting for someone to make the move.

"Stop it! Malik, please. He's your son." Queen Regina cried.

Upon hearing those words, King Malik loosened his grip on Colter and pushed him away before composing himself. "You better watch yourself, Colter. I'm just about done with all your transgressions. If you do not start acting accordingly, you might find yourself stripped of powers while locked in a dungeon for being a tyrant."

Colter had enough of his father for the day. Without even looking back, he went up the stairs to go to his room.

Before he could reach the landing, he looked back and said sarcastically. "I'm sorry, father. For not being the perfect son you've dreamed of. You have Gian anyway, so you have nothing to worry about. Howard will be great under his reign. Good night."

"Colter," Queen Regina whispered and made a move to follow him, but the King stopped her in her tracks.

“Let him be, Regina. That bastard is old enough to know what to do.” King Malik said. The great Queen Regina could do nothing but obey the King as she watched their youngest son walk away from them.

He was well pass the landing but Colter had heard how his father had called him a bastard. It added nothing but more salt to the open wound in his heart. Right now, all that is there to be done is to ignore it and hope for the best.

Hope that a good night's sleep can fix his relationship with his father.

---

Vida

Cube, New York City

"Aren't you glad you said yes?"

Vida took a sip of her drink before answering Tessa's question. Was she glad she was here? Maybe. Could her borrowed dress be any shorter? She certainly hoped not.

"C'mon, Vida. You deserve to loosen up once in a while." Tessa said. She knew that Vida was still a little bundle of nerves after the incident. Tessa wanted to her to at least have a life and not wallow in fear. Life was too short for that.

"Yeah, I do need to loosen up, but I would rather it be just us for the mean time." Vida said. "So, no boys allowed."

"Where's the fun in that, my little butterfly?" Tessa downed her mojito and stood up. "Let's dance!"

"But I haven't finished my drink yet." Vida said, tugging on the hem of her dress.

"Loosen. Up." Tessa said as she both grabbed Vida's arm and pulled her to the dance floor.

Vida's got to give it to Tessa. Her best friend sure knew how to have a good time. Vida had no other choice but to go along. She knew that Tessa was doing this for her, to erase bad memories and replace them with new, happy ones.

Despite Vida not being born a dancer, or a singer, for that matter, closed her eyes and let the music take over her body. She normally would not dance in the presence of strangers but she liked how she felt free and not having a care in the world.

The girls danced all their worries away for quite some time. Until one guy approached them and joined their little dance group. It kind of threw Vida off of her rhythm as she was surprised that a stranger would have the nerve to just blatantly insert himself in the scene.

Tessa was surprised too, but she actually hid it well. She just gave Vida a reassured look, letting her know that it was fine.

They continued dancing, a whirlwind of sequins and colors. For the record, Vida was having a good time indeed. She had not felt this free after a long time. In fact, Tessa was having so much fun that she seemed to forget about Vida. She was now fully dancing with the man.

"Well, guess it's time to take a break." Vida said to herself. She went back to their table and grabbed her drink. It wasn't as cold as it was before.

"Here," A man slid in front of Vida's seat and placed a fresh glass of pink drink in front of her.

Vida looked up and saw the man from table number 16, Harry, grinning at her. "Hi."

"Hey," Vida breathed. She remembered how she got caught staring at him earlier. Her cheeks started to heat up at the memory and she suddenly felt very embarrassed.

"I saw you having fun with your friend. Is this your first time here?" Harry asked.

Vida was caught off guard by the question. So, Harry was keeping tabs on her all night? "I don't really go out much." Was all she could reply.

Harry smiled kindly and nodded as he drank his beer. Vida watched as his throat bobbed up and down from swallowing his drink. Heat crept up to her ears as she probably looked like a dork from staring at this man's neck.

"Would you like to dance?" Harry asked politely.

"Oh no, that's enough dancing for tonight." Vida said. "I'm not used to wearing high heels for long periods of time. I might head home in a wheelchair if I continue to stand up."

Harry chuckled at that and winked. "No worries. I totally understand. It's a shame that women have to subject themselves to those death contraptions."

Vida laughed. It was refreshing to talk to someone, a man nonetheless, that knows the struggles of women, particularly when it comes to heels.

"Well, I better not take too much of your time then. I'm sure your friend will be back by now." Harry stood up. "Drink's on me, by the way."

With that, he smiled one last time and left, disappearing through the crowd.

Vida thought about Harry and the enigma that surrounds him. She find it kind of odd how he seemed to follow them in this club tonight and was acting all too friendly. Vida could not help but raise her guard at him. Harry does not seem to be bad news. But it was better to be safe than sorry, especially nowadays where scumbags are rampant.

"So, tell me why the owner of the bar came over and why did he only bring one drink?" Tessa sat down on Harry's vacated seat.

"I'm sorry, what?" Vida said.

Tessa picked up the drink Harry gave Vida and took a sip. She sighed and said. "Yeah, Harry Fletcher, owner of Cube."

Words left Vida as she let that information sink in. Harry Fletcher, the guy who owns the club, wanted to dance with her?

"You would not believe this," Vida said and she recounted her run in with Harry Fletcher.

After she finished, Tessa's eyes were bugging out and she slapped the table. "Get out! Are you for real?"

Vida laughed at her best friend's reaction. "Yes!"

Tessa leaned back at her seat and took a long look at Vida. "Bitch, if a man like Harry Fletcher has his eye out for you, then let's do our best to keep it that way."

Vida rolled her eyes at that thought. There was no way a man of Harry Fletcher's caliber would be interested in a girl like Vida.

There was no way, right?